Pushbutton adapter for electrical switch assembly with latched and momentary pushbuttons



y 16, 1958 J. F,. WALDORF ETAL 3,392,598

PUSHBUTTON ADAPTER FOR ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY WITH LATCHED ANDMOMENTARY PUSHBUTTONS Filed Feb. 24, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J y 16, 1968.F. WALDOR ETAL 3,392,598

PUSHBUTTON ADAP FOR ELECTRI SWITCH ASSEMBLY WITH LATCHED AND MOMENTARYPUSHBUTTONS Filed Feb. 24. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 68 3mm a Q0 5% 3? WMSYW United States Patent M 3,392,598 PUSHBUTTON ADAPTER FOR ELECTRICALSWITCH ASSEMBLY WITH LATCHED AND MOMENTARY PUSHBUTTONS Joseph F.Waldorf, New Berlin, Marian M. Rzepecki, Milwaukee, and Allan P.Charbonueau, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignors to Cutler-Hammer, Inc.,Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 24, 1966, Ser. No.529,785 4 Claims. (Cl. 74-483) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Manuallyoperated pushbutton electrical apparatus of the one-hole mounted varietyhaving a latching pushbutton with associated latching and latchreleasing mechanisms, and a momentary non-latching pushbutton, allmounted within a unitary pushbutton adapter with contact blocks attachedto the rear thereof.

This invention relates to a unitary pushbutton adapter for electricalswitch assemblies having multiple pushbutton operators and moreparticularly to a pushbutton adapter having interlocked momentary andlatched pushbutton operators.

Manually operable one-hole mounting pushbutton adapters for oiltightheavy duty electrical switch assemblies have been conventionallyconstructed with one pushbutton per adapter to operate one or moreswitch units assembled with the adapter. In order to accomplish multipleswitching functions, it has been usually necessary to use a plurality ofindividual pushbutton units or a multiple position rotary switch or thelike.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide in a pushbuttonswitch assembly, a pushbutton adapter which combines certain switchingcapabilities of a multiple position rotary switch or the like with theoperating, indicating and safety advantages of pushbuttons in a compactunitary pushbutton operated electrical switch assembly.

It is a more specific object to provide an adapter of the aforedescribedtype having multiple pushbutton operators consisting of a momentarypushbutton operator and a latched pushbutton operator with latchreleasing means, the operation of the two pushbutton operators beinginterlocked.

It is another specific object of this invention to provide an improvedpushbutton interlocking means for an adapter of the aforedescribed type.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident to thoseskilled in the art upon reference to the following description andclaims.

While the device hereinafter described is adapted to fulfill the objectsstated, it is to be understood that it is not intended that theinvention be confined to the particular preferred embodiment disclosedsince it is susceptible of various modifications without departing fromthe scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a pushbutton electrical switchassembly embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the pushbutton adapter of FIG. 1 taken online 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the pushbutton adapter shown in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but with a rear plate removed to showthe interior of the adapter; and

3,392,598 Patented July 16, 1968 FIG. 6 is a sectional view of theadapter taken on line 66 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the electrical switch assembly shown in FIGS.1 and 2 comprises an adapter 2 and a pair of identical contact blocks 3and 4 fastened to the rear of adapter 2 by means of a mounting device 5.

The adapter has a die cast frame or retainer 6 having a rectangularfront portion 6a in which there are mounted a momentary pushbutton 7, amaintained or latched pushbutton 8, and a release pushbutton 9 whichfunctions to release latched pushbutton 8. Retainer 6 is adapted to bemounted within a hole in a panel 10 (FIG. 2) with rectangular portion 6ain front of the panel 10. A rearwardly extending portion 6b of retainer6 is a round cylindrical bushing which passes through the aperture inpanel 10. A gasket 11 is interposed between retainer 6 and panel 10 forsealing purposes. A key 12 is formed on the periphery of portion 611, toindex with a keyway formed in the otherwise circular mounting hole inpanel 10 to thereby prevent unwanted rotation of retainer 6. A nut 13 isturned upon the threaded periphery of bushing 6b to tighten against therear of panel 10 to securely fasten retainer 6 to panel 10.

Mounting device 5 comprises a housing member 14, a rear plate 15 and alatch ring 16. Housing member 14 is fastened to plate 15 and latch ring16 is rotatably held therebetween. A gear 17 is attached to a rotatableshaft 18 and engages the periphery of latch ring 16. A spring washer 19is also mounted on shaft 18. Mounting device 5 is attached to bushing 6bby turning shaft 18 to thereby rotate latch ring 16. A pair of lugs (notshown) on latch ring 5 then engage a pair of grooves 22 formed inbushing 6b to firmly attach mounting device 5 to bushing 6b. Each ofcontact blocks 3 and 4 is of the type having a plunger 23 and a bridgingcontact member 24 which may be reciprocably actuated. A return spring 25is interposed between a housing 26 and plunger 23 to provide a returnforce thereto. Each of contact blocks 3 and 4 is fastened to plate 15 bya pair of screws such as screw 27 shown in FIG. 2 which may be turned toengage a threaded hole (not shown) in plate 15. The structure of suchcontact blocks, the structure of mounting device 5, and the method ofmounting the pushbutton assembly are more completely described in thecopending application Ser. No. 520,444 filed Jan. 13, 1966, by Roy A.Mukai, Allan P. Charbonneau, Joseph F. Waldorf and Robert Pearson, andassigned to the present assignee, now Patent No. 3,322,926, issued May30, 1967.

Pushbutton 8 has a pair of resilient lugs 28 and 29 which extend fromthe back thereof to snap over the edges of a plate 30, as shown in FIG.3. Plate 30 is riveted to the end of a pushrod 31 which is looselysupported in an aperture 32 in retainer 6 for reciprocatory movementtherein. An elastic seal 33 surrounds pushrod 31 to prevent the passageof oil or other fluids through aperture 32. A washer 34 covers seal 33.A compression spring 35 is placed between washer 34 and plate 30 toprovide a return force to pushbutton 8. An enlarged portion 36 is formedon pushrod 31 behind aperture 32 to serve as a return stop by engagementWith the rear wall of retainer 6. Enlarged portion 36 also forms part ofa latching mechanism which includes a generally C-shaped sliding latch37, best shown in FIG. 5. Latch 37 is of sheet metal construction andhas an edge 38 bent forwardly to slidingly engage a groove 39 formed inretainer 6 to serve as a guide for the reciprocal movement of latch 37.A compression spring 40 is interposed between latch 37 and retainer 6 sothat the curved arm 41 of latch 37 is biased toward pushrod 31 to engagethe forward edge of enlarged portion 36 when pushrod 31 is fullydepressed. Portion 36 has two frusto-conical surfaces baseto-base. Therearmost conical surface serves as a camming surface and, by engagementwith arm 41, moves latch 37 against the biasing force of spring 40 whilepushrod 31 is being depressed.

In order that pushbutton 8 be released from its latched depressedposition, the lach release pushbutton 9 is provided. Pushbutton 9 ismounted on a plate 42. Plate 42 is riveted to the forward end of apushrod 43 which is slidingly supported in an aperture 44 in retainer 6.An elastic sealing ring 45 surrounds pushrod 43 to prevent passage ofliquids through aperture 44. A washer 46 covers sealing ring 45. Acompression spring between washer 46 and plate 42 provides a returnforce to pushbutton 9. At the rearrnost end of pushrod 43 there isformed a conical camming member 48 which is flattened on one side toconform to the adjacent wall of retainer 6. Conical cam 48 also servesas a return stop by engagement with retainer 6. A tab 49 is bentrearwardly from latch 37 to form a cam follower surface which cooperateswith cam 48. As pushbutton 9 is depressed the cam 48 engages tab 49 tomove latch 37 against the biasing force of spring 40 and thereby movearm 41 out of engagement with the forward edge of portion 36 and releasepushbutton 8 to return to its released position. The release ofpushbutton 8 also causes the release of plunger 23 of contact block 3which then returns to its normal position.

There is a momentary pushbutton 7 in the lower half of adapter 2.Pushbutton 7 is mounted on a plate 50 which is riveted to the end of apushrod 51. Pushrod 51 is slidingly supported in an aperture 52 inretainer 6. A sealing ring 53 surrounds pushrod 51 to prevent passage ofliquids through aperture 52. A washer 54 covers seal 53. A compressionspring 55 is interposed between washer 54 and plate 50 to provide areturn force to pushbutton 7. An enlarged portion 56 is formed onpushrod 51 behind aperture 52 to act as a return motion stop. Therearmost end of pushrod 51 communicates with the plunger of contactblock 4 to actuate contact block 4 when pushbutton 7 is depressed.

Interlocking means are provided to prevent simultaneous depression ofpushbuttons 7 and 8. A rectangular aperture 57 is formed in a wall 58which separates pushbutton 7 from pushbutton 8. An interlock 59 isplaced in aperture 57 with a pair of legs 60 and 61 straddling the rearedge of aperture 57. Interlock 59 pivots upon wall 58 at the juncture oflegs 60 and 61. A pair of cantilever fiat springs 62 and 63 are eachfastened at one end to retainer 6 and at their other ends, bearrearwardly against the respective ends of legs 60 and 61. The resilientequal pressure of springs 62 and 63 tend to keep the wedgeshaped end ofinterlock 59 centered within wall 58 and extending equally into cavitiesbelow pushbuttons 7 and 8 as shown in FIG. 2. As one or the other ofpushbuttons 7 and 8 is depressed, the engagement of the depressedpushbutton forces the wedge shaped end of interlock 59 toward and underthe opposite pushbutton to there interfere with and prevent thedepression of the opposite pushbutton as shown in FIG. 6. As interlock59 moves to one side or the other, it pivots upon wall 58 against thecentering pressure of one or the other of springs 62 and 63.Simultaneous depression of pushbuttons 7 and 8 is thereby prevented.

A rear plate 64 holds latch 37 in place and is riveted to the rear ofretainer 6 by rivet portions 65 and 66. FIG. 4 shows plate 64 in placeand FIG. shows the adapter mechanism with plate 64 removed. A pair ofholes 67 and 68 are provided to accommodate the ends of pushrods 31 and51.

We claim:

1. A unitary pushbutton adapter of the one-hole mounting variety foroperating a plurality of reciprocally actuable electrical switchingmeans attached thereto comprising:

a retainer member having a front side and a rear side adapted to bemounted in a hole in a mounting panel with first and second reciprocallyactuable electrical switching means attached to the rear side thereof;

momentary pushbutton means extending through and reciprocally supportedwithin said retainer and having a released position and -a depressedposition, said momentary pushbutton means being manually operable fromthe front side of said retainer, for engaging and actuating said firstswitching means when depressed;

means for biasing said momentary pushbutton means to its releasedposition whereby said momentary pushbutton means returns to saidreleased position when the manual depressing force is released;

latched pushbutton means extending through and reciprocally supportedwithin said retainer and having a released position and a depressedposition, said latched pushbutton means being manually operable from thefirst side of said retainer, for engaging and actuating said secondswitching means when depressed;

means for biasing said latched pushbutton means to its releasedposition;

latching means supported by said retainer for latching said latchedpushbutton means in its depressed position;

latch releasing means for releasing said latching means comprisingrelease pushbutton means reciprocally supported within said retainer andmanually operable from the front side of said retainer between a normalposition and a depressed position for engaging and moving said latchingmeans when depressed to thereby release said latched pushbutton means;and

means for biasing said release pushbutton means to its normal position.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, together with interlocking meansfor interlocking the operation of said momentary pushbutton means andsaid latched pushbutton means whereby depression of said momentarypushbutton means prevents depression of said latched pushbutton meansand vice versa.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, in which said interlocking meanscomprises an interlock member movably mounted on said retainer bteweensaid momentary pushbutton means and said latched pushbutton means forbeing engaged by either of said momentary or latched pushbutton meanswhen depressed to be moved toward the other of said momentary andlatched pushbutton means and interfere with and thereby prevent thedepression of the other of said momentary and latched pushbutton means.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 in which:

said retainer includes a wall separating said momentary and latchedpushbutton means; and

said interlock member is pivotally mounted in said wall;

together with:

a pair of similar cantilever springs mounted on said retainer andresiliently bearing on opposite sides of said interlock'member forbiasing said interlock member to a central position between saidmomentary and latched pushbutton means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,843,686 7/1958 Ballou.

2,713,092 7/1955 Rucks et a1 74-483 3,322,927 5/1967 Waldorf et a1.200-472 FRED C. MA ITERN, IR., Primary Examiner.

W. S. RATLIFF, Assistant Examiner.

